Code: Redux
by Hetaliafan11
Summary: What if people lived in the scanners, and XANA was only mentioned as a myth?
1. Prologue

AN: Alright. So, you've seen the old 'new lyoko warriors, etc.' overused plot many a time - a lot of fans use it. Guess what this is? And before you close this tab (or press the back button) please know that I'm going to try to make it original. Much less of a copycat than the same old tired stuff. So, please, read on. I hope you like it, and I accept all criticism. (Even if someone MSTs this, I won't really care - in fact, I might laugh.) Just make sure it's not just 'u rlly suck OMG'. That I will attempt to delete (and probably fail, but whatever XD) Also, if my plot contradicts the real canon in any way - it's a fanfic, anyway, so…yeah. XP The finale never aired in America (I don't think…it might've…but…yeah, and I haven't gotten around to watching it online) so…yeah.

So, I think I've spoken enough. Let's get to our plot, shall we?

Prologue

The "Belpois incident" happened many years ago. 5 teenagers disappeared on the evening of March 15, 2005, and were not seen since. Witnesses say that the group disappeared near a abandoned warehouse, but looks into the building have uncovered nothing but a large supercomputer, and a few pods (which are being put into testing, so far, the pods have been seen as a way to teleport to some program - studies say it appears to be some kind of MMORPG).

Game developers have been taking a interest in the pods, saying that it may be the 'future of gaming', and already, several games are being planned out for the interactive system.

The most interesting appears to come from Blast Off! Entertainment - it appears to be a fully interactive game with many customization features, based upon a drawing that the only survivor of the Belpois incident, William Dunbar, had sketched out…many of them include special powers to be used in the game…avatars based upon the "Lyoko Warriors" as Dunbar called them, are going to be used by the game developers…and many enemies will be placed into the game based upon the infamous XANA creations.

…

There appears to be some horrifying cult based upon the XANA mythos, termed by many as "The Viruses". Apparently, the cult is lead by some strange woman who calls herself "Black Rose"…as seen on many websites, their motto is apparently "The truth is coming..." which is followed by the date of the pod's release, 02/15…a month before the Belpois incident. William Dunbar reportedly quoted…

"They're idiots. Nothing will happen related to XANA, and I'll make sure of it. "

Officers have been ordered to look out for members of this strange cult…

…

The pods will be a great technology for centuries to come, and we here at Lance Press say to go onward with the future, and say goodbye to the past!

In the years following, the Pods became a used gaming tool, and all major gaming companies began to use it, as well as socialite sites.

Dating Sites could have actual dating instead of just talking.

Forums and other such sites could have people chatting in person, and assuming the character persona instead of just text for roleplaying.

Many jobs used them for training purposes, setting up specific simulators for their pods.

Children could receive teaching from the pods, as they would always be at attention when they were living through their subjects instead of just hearing them.

Some people even refused to live outside of the program, preferring their life in the pod instead of their life in the real world...but you could essentially live there, as the pods were formatted to give attention to all the body's needs so the player had no chance of actually dying.

However, in a perfect, virtual world…could XANA really return?

There is always a chance for everything…

And not all of it is for the best.

CODE: REDUX

A original fanfic by HetaliaFan11


	2. 1: Dani's gang is a bunch of losers

AN: Noticed the plot was a lot like .hack...I've got to mix it up a bit :/ Anyway, today's chapter just introduces our heroes. Next chapter, things get moving. So yeah.

CODE: REDUX

Chapter 1: Dani's Gang (is a bunch of losers)

Danielle, known by some as "Dani", Knight exited the school. She clutched a bag over her shoulder, and glanced around nervously, as if she was looking for something.

Of course, most knew that Dani was assigned to a useless class - "Schoolchild/Normal", so if any wild monsters attacked, she was utterly defenseless if they knocked her bag off…which contained her weapons. As a result, she was very easily beat in duels.

"Bloody…ugh, my parents had to pick the most utterly useless class in this game for me…why couldn't I have been a splicer? Those are very fast…" She shook her head, keeping her bag close. "And we have to live so far into the woods…damnit…"

Being as normal as can be, and based upon the fact that all "so-normal" people get into the weirdest things, she should have been feeling lucky for her normal status…but when you're absolutely defenseless in a world where there wasn't anyone to protect you but yourself? Not exactly the best place to look up. Dani ran into her house, out of breath, just as her mother (who had chosen Archangel/Passer after many years of training, since it was based upon Aelita's second form and therefore was a big sign of accomplishment) walked into the kitchen.

"Hi, Dani!" Her mom smiled. "How was school?"

"The usual. Kids beat me in the duels, and one claimed that I was about the strength of a elementary-school child." Dani shook her head. "It was…stupid."

"Danielle, don't call duels 'stupid'. They impact the future. Besides, you always talked about being a great 'Lyoko Warrior' when you were little." Dani's mom said, putting down a sandwich on a plate. "Dinner. Eat up…I see some krabes outside. We'll have to get rid of them."

"Krabes? Again?" Dani frowned.

Without XANA, the monsters that were once controlled by the evil A.I. were set loose. They lost their eyes of XANA, and grew a new symbol, showing that they were not under control of it anymore. Now they were usually kept as pets, or killed and eaten during extreme measures. Most of the time, however, they were just treated as pests…or ways to level up. The Knights had all of these uses covered, as Dani kept a pet Blok, 'Cube', along with killing other monsters.

Dani bit a huge chunk out of her sandwich, and dashed outside, taking out a buzz sword (a lightsaber-esque sword added in to one of the Admin's requests) and slicing at one of the krabes.

The normal class was essentially the class for unexperienced. They could do anything - cast minor spells, use many items, and they could wear any armor. However, they essentially had to charge these up (even though their wielding skill was high) and could not do any advanced skills in anything but 'normal skills' which were mostly joking (running around and dropping healing items out of your pack?) so, it was natural for Dani to hate her class, even though it gets the most weaponry.

Her mom dashed forward, shooting off energy balls and dodging the attacks by dashing into the air. Dani merely tried to slash at the krabe, but it dashed away, leaving Dani to wish that she was part of the samurai class instead.

"Just concentrate yourself, sweetheart!" Her mom yelled, charging up a large energy ball. "You've got to do something to do that…hmn….HYAH!" The energy ball was shot off at the krabe, Dani's mom falling onto the ground, a bit weak from all of the charging.

The krabe faded, dead from the extreme impact, and left inedible by the after-effects of the 'nuclear ball'. Dani's mom glanced up, and with a grin, dashed over to the rewards.

"Ah! Not bad rewards at all…10 data points, and a poisoned krabe shell." Dani's mom reported. "Dani, you might want to take the shell…that's one of the most powerful shields."

"…" Dani reluctantly picked it up, just as Christel Bösch from next door ran onto the field.

"Are there any items for me?" Christel asked, holding her paws out. Christel was a catgirl - one of the few training in Odd Della Robia's style - agility and tricking. She was definitely manipulative to get her items…that was one thing.

"I'm afraid not." Dani's mom said. "There's nothing on it." She'd already taken the shell, and the data points had disappeared into her 'trackr'.

The trackr (spelled exactly like that, heaven knows why) was a essential tool for the users. It was a bank, a data screen, and it stored your equipment. You could always punch the dot in the middle to leave the game, but nobody did that anymore.

"Aww…" Christel pouted. "I really wanted a poison krabe shell…" She moved her foot back and forth, in the usual innocent 7-year old way she did.

"You've really got to stop using the stack hack, Christel…" Dani's mom sighed, reluctantly handing it over.

Christel was accessing the game from a hacked version of the pods. Like all of the MMORPGs, there were different language versions. Christel had ordered a 'America and UK' version of the pods, and sent one to a pen-pal over in Japan as well. Playing from a hacked version of the pods, she naturally had downloaded several 'enhancements' to the game before she got on. So far, due to her innocence and lack of contact, nobody had found out about the hacks. One of them was to see into other player's inventories.

"I know, but there's no use getting off when they'll never ban anyone…" Christel shrugged.

"Yes, but there's always…suspension." Dani said. "Christel, it's not like these things help you…"

"Well, I like them! So there!" Christel pouted.

"Fine then…" Dani shrugged. "I was gonna tell you about next month's patch, but…"

"What? Another patch?" Christel gasped.

Like all hacks, they became useless after a patch. Christel's hacks were especially needed, considering her '2x XP' was one of the main uses, along with the 'Double your levels-MinMaxr'. So, Christel occasionally had to get offline to download updates, as she had no clue how to do it within the pod. She had seen glimpses to what the world had become, but refused to talk about it.

"Yeah. 'Nother patch." Dani nodded. "It's clearing out the oldest weapons and adding better graphics."

"Augh! They knew the older ones for my class were overpowered!" Christel cursed under her breath. "I'll just have to hack them in."

"There is a report button, FYI, and other players know to report a hacker." Dani said, unconcerned.

"Dangit, dangit, dangit!" Christel frowned. "DANGIT ALL!"

"Yeah. So you better get working on those updates." Dani grinned.

"…" Christel sighed. "I'll be right back." She pressed the button on her forehead, and she disappeared with a pop. A few seconds later, she was back and tapping her foot. "There is no patch, you moron."

"Oh? There's not? I thought there was…" Dani said, ever so sarcastically.

"Whatever…let's go see how Gorou is doing." Christel said, walking out ahead.

"Alright, right behind you. I'll be back in a bit, Mom." Dani said. Her mother nodded, apparently seeing another monster, and dashing after it.

The two girls walked on.

"It's funny. They said it was a 'peaceful world', but yet, it's not. There's still monsters. Lyoko monsters, but still…" Dani said.

"Hm. Well, the way I see it is that the monsters in this world don't shed blood, so they're all fine and dandy. But if there's bloodshed, it's dangerous and must be stopped. " Christel said. "Besides, it's not like we could really be killed here. There's always revival chips, and no players can kill you besides the admins, and they never go for death penalty anyway."

"Yeah, but what about the primal Lyoko years? The years where it was just…the Lyoko warriors?" Dani asked. "Those days weren't peaceful."

"Yeah, but they had XANA back then. XANA was…well…a lot worse. Anyway, I think we're almost at Gorou's home." Christel said, looking ahead.

Gorou was the pen-pal from Japan mentioned earlier. He was charming…handsome…suave, and lead singer for the Japanese pop sensation (and many other nationalities since their songs were put into the game) '5', based upon his name (Fifth son) and last name (Oshiro - big castle, and there were **5 **Okinawan kingdoms)…even though his real last name was Nakahara. Christel and him had a almost comedic dynamic - Christel irritated him, and Gorou snarked on Christel quite easily, which made the girl wonder why she hung out with so many people who would make fun of her so easily, and in return, Gorou reminded her that everyone else would report her for the hacks. Christel merely cursed under her breath after that.

He was part of the exclusive 'Singer' class, based upon the wonders of sound. This led him to look like part of the normal class, but he actually was much more powerful. Though, he often wondered, why they wanted a concert mixed with a arena, sometimes. But Gorou decided not to question it most of the time.

His house was much larger than the rest, as his bandmates lived there as well, but they were out most of the time, leaving him with no company but the girls.

"Hey, do you think we should get Angelica, too?" Christel asked.

"Knowing her, she's probably already over here." Dani stated, annoyed a bit by their 'friend'.

Christel nodded, approaching the door with Dani.

Angelica Quinn was obsessed with Gorou, leading to the girls reluctantly accepting her as a friend as well. Angelica was a normal teenage girl who had joined the pods as the first of her family to do so. She had made a lot of 'boyfriends' on the game before anyone out of her family got on, and had leveled up many times, despite her bad class. She had picked robot/puppetmaster (which, in evaluation, female robots were the equivalent of succubi - just with more lazers, but the puppetmaster nulled it), which made her family ashamed of her, and disowning her, making Angelica merely forget about them and go on her way. She now currently lived alone, trying to go to her 'friends' to be comforted.

Angelica usually was with Gorou, given that he was one of the few boys to be a bit rough to her, which she enjoyed instead of the usual gushyness that her boyfriends gave to her. Plus, he was one of the nearest celebrities, and stars are always good (for her, at least).

And sure enough, Angelica was in there.

"Hi, Christel! …Dani." She frowned, seeing the other girl.

"Yeah, yeah, turd-head." Dani said, walking in.

"Whatever, cornhusks." Angelica said, slamming the door. Dani's and Angelica's rivalry was wide and far between.

"Hi, all!" Gorou waved. "It's good to see you! I was afraid…something had happened!" He said the last line with a pause, causing Dani to raise a eyebrow.

"Like what?" Dani asked.

"Uh…well…Black Roseisabout." Gorou said quickly.

"…Say that again." Dani said.

"Black Rose is about." Gorou said, frowning.

Dani's mouth merely fell wide open.

AN: And what will happen? Read in (I can't say tune in, 'cause…well…*shot*) next time to find out!

I hope you like…please review! :)


	3. 2:Every rose has its thorns

Code: Redux

Chapter 2: Every rose has its thorns

"Wait a minute." Christel said, frowning. "Black Rose is back? I thought she had disappeared right after the pods were activated…"

"That's what I had thought." Gorou said. "But, apparently, she wasn't completely gone…"

Black Rose was the leader of the cult of XANA, or "The Viruses". She apparently had decided that XANA was…magnificent, some kind of god to the Lyoko world, and the Lyoko Warriors had wrecked all that was peaceful to it. Rumor went that she had actually sacrificed herself for XANA to gain more power…but with her apparent return, the rumor had proved…false.

"But what about the rest of the players? Do they know?" Dani asked.

"No…just myself and the admins." Gorou said. "And I only found out by warnings to be careful at my concerts…"

Angelica frowned. "Oh, that's just great. You're telling me that the most hated enemy around is back, and the rest of the players have no idea. That's…wonderful. Simply so." She muttered, shaking her head. "Gorou, we have to tell them."

"No. I don't want to worry them." Gorou said, walking away and sitting down in one of his chairs. "I won't worry them. If the admins know, they'll protect us."

"And what if they don't?"

"Then the ones who do know will have to step up." Gorou said, closing his eyes as if he were relaxed.

"…You mean, us?" Dani muttered.

"Exactly, Danielle." Gorou nodded.

"….You're insane." Christel spoke up.

"Maybe I am, or maybe you are. We can never be too sure with you."

"Oh, shut it, number 5. It's not a joking matter." Christel said.

"Nonetheless, they did mention that reports of their proceeds with the Viruses would be available on channel 99 on all videosensors." Gorou shrugged. "I'm just not bothering to check, since nothing would happen currently."

Christel frowned, and dashed over to the 'videosensor' (basically, the Lyoko version of a TV) and flipped it to channel 99. There was footage of the XANA logo, with nothing more but a slight banner running along the bottom saying 'the war has begun'.

The friends merely stared at the screen, dazed, as battle footage appeared on the channel.

It was…pretty horrible. A woman in a long, spiked dress (Dani assumed this was Black Rose) walked into the field of vision first, followed by two twins in pantsuits, a little girl in a Victorian-esque dress, and a man who looked faintly transparent.

"If you know what's good for you, you'd better evacuate. Now." Black Rose demanded, as the twins giggled. The camera panned out, showing a shot of the neighboring town, Glacialia, formerly known as Lyoko's northern sectors. The little girl (Dani now noticed that the girl was wearing a blindfold) glanced up at Black Rose, who frowned. "Fine then. I'll just have to make you evacuate. Laugh Maker…now."

The transparent man, apparently named 'Laugh Maker', acquired a demonic grin on his face, as he shot off a gun he held behind his back, leading to a forcefield going around the town.

"You cannot leave, now." Black Rose smirked. "Now, Yin, Yang? You know that one of the important people is in there, right?"

"Yes, ma'am. " The twins nodded.

The admin 'Reach' had his quarters stationed inside Glacialia…right next to where one of the Lyoko towers formerly was. Reach was the weakest admin, judging on a scale of all of them. He did have control over ice, but was rather slow, and didn't have the ability to keep a stable party (most of the time, his party left him due to his attitude).

"Good, then. Attack Reach, as I head for the tower." Black Rose said, dashing ahead as the twins followed her, carrying the little girl along with them, who gave a faint smile.

The camera followed them towards Reach, who stood in front of the tower protectively, a faint wind coming from his palms. Yin and Yang noticed this, and dashed far ahead, ripping off the little girl's blindfold.

"Medusa, look at the man!" Yin shrieked, as the frail girl looked up at Reach, who gasped, trying to avoid her gaze.

"Oh, what's wrong…are you afraid?" Yang asked, smirking, as Yin pulled out a sharp sword (Breacher, Lvl. 25, it appeared to be) and cut off her twin's neck, which caused Reach to gasp in fright.

"No matter. My brother's power gathers in me." Yin smirked, dashing toward Reach and holding him tightly. "Medusa, over here. Now."

"…Alright…" Medusa whispered, glancing over at Reach as Yin pulled the blindfold over her eyes. Reach turned to stone, as Yin cracked open his torso and smiled.

"Good job, Medusa." Yin nodded.

Meanwhile, Black Rose had entered the tower, and was now exiting, as the tower now glowed a shade of red familiar to XANA.

"The tower…lives again." Black Rose said, as the broadcast cut off.

Dani stared, wide-eyed at the TV, as Christel had left when Yang had been killed, Angelica was hiding her face behind a pillow, and Gorou…he just looked sick.

"My god…" Dani choked out, her tongue slipping on the words. "I…I can't believe that's going on…"

Christel entered the room, with a frightened cry of "Are the twins gone?" Dani nodded, but couldn't look away from the TV, which gave the next most likely location for the team to strike was Launch, formerly the desert area of Lyoko. That was where 'Lana of the Sands' was located, another high-up admin. The TV reported that she is being stationed with many guards, and that she has prepared for their arrival, but there was always a chance of that failing.

However, Reach had been secretly gathering their data as he was killed, and the data of the criminals appeared on the screen.

The woman, as Dani had guessed, was Black Rose. She had apparently been going under the alias of 'Maricella Peters' for a long while, establishing ties with the other people with them.

The man was Laugh Maker, apparently only going under that. He, apparently, had a talent with making things (such as a serum that the cult had apparently been using on their members), was a shapeshifter, and he had the power to control emotions…the most used was great depression, leading the person to affectively kill themselves by one of the others, effectively a unintentional suicide, so, it looked like a simple mistake.

The twins were, of course, Yin and Yang, named 'Leon and Leanne Quest' at one time. They had the power of immortality, with one twin killing the other, their powers were transferred. Also, they both were apparently orphans, claiming to be the 'children of XANA', and most likely being the attack force of the group, besides Laugh Maker.

And, finally, the frail girl's name was Medusa, or Chloe Lopez. She had the apt power of turning people to stone with a glance, and this was often the finishing blow to many of the victims. Apparently, rumors say that she joined the cult to get her eyesight back, but to some freak accident, the serum gave her the powers instead. She's also rumored to be the most suicidal of the cult, often voluntarily going into dangerous situations.

Players were advised to beware.

"So, what was that about us trying to help this out?" Christel asked.

AN: So ends another chapter.

Rate and review…I've enjoyed writing this one more than my other stories, I think…I dunno, maybe it's more of the freedom I get, I don't know.

But I feel like I'm drifting away from a fanfic and more into original fiction, I dunno…maybe I should add more Lyoko elements into the next chapter?

Anyway, yeah. Next chapter out soon.


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